Gathering Darkness (Falling Kingdoms 3)

“There are four points along this road, four locations that Melenia determined to be powerful places that hold a more concentrated level of elemental magic than anywhere else in Mytica. She has used the road to join these places of power, threading them together like pearls on a necklace. Three of these locations have been the setting of fateful moments of blood magic. Blood that was spilled on or near the road then triggered elemental disasters, which confirmed them as ideal locations.”

Cleo stared at Alexius now, barely breathing. Elemental disasters—she’d experienced one herself. A massive earthquake on the day of her wedding right after the slaughter of Jonas’s group of rebels.

Blood magic. Could it be true?

“Sounds complicated,” Cleo said.

He nodded. “The recovery of the Kindred is a complicated, layered process. Nothing this important is ever easy.”

She had to agree with him on that.

“So where are they?” Lucia asked. “These places of power?”

“I can’t reveal that. You must be able to see them for yourself, using your own magic. When you do see them, you will then be able to awaken the crystals and draw them to these magical locations. Your magic is as pure as the magic possessed by the Kindred themselves, and it is only through that spark of magic that they can be physically claimed, piece by piece.” He glanced at Cleo. “The claiming is slightly less complicated than the awakening.”

“How are they claimed?” she ventured, needing to know everything she possibly could.

“Through blood magic. To make the crystals appear, the symbols for each Kindred must be drawn in blood at the locations.”

Incredible. It was all too much, yet she wanted more. “I’ve heard it said that the power of a crystal is so great, it can corrupt one who touches it,” she said. One of Cleo’s beliefs about her ring was that wearing it would protect her from corruption.

“That warning that applies to Watchers,” Alexius said, his expression distant in the flickering light of the map and the candles. “A warning which has often gone unheeded in the past, I’m afraid.”

So the crystals wouldn’t corrupt a mortal. Was it true? Could she trust anything this boy said?

He could be lying. She had no way of knowing for sure what was true and what was false.

“How do I do it?” Lucia asked, now frowning as she stared at the map. “How do I awaken the crystals?”

“This will help you. Watch.” Alexius leaned over and took the ring from Lucia, then balanced it on its edge before her, flicking it to set it spinning. “As long as you concentrate on it, it will keep spinning. Clear your mind of everything else. Think only of the ring and the magic it contains. Its power will enhance what you already have.”

“You learned all of this from Melenia?” she whispered.

“Yes,” he replied simply.

“She sounds amazing. So wise.”

“The ring, princess,” he urged. “Don’t let it stop spinning or we’ll have to start over. I’ll guide you.”

“All right.” The excitement in Lucia’s eyes had dissipated and was now replaced by steely determination. Cleo was impressed by her willingness to embrace this unexpected turn of events so easily. Then again, it was her destiny.

Our destiny, Cleo corrected herself.

Lucia concentrated and the ring spun around and around. The amethyst cast its own light upon the map, turning it violet and sending a cascade of sparkling light onto their faces and the stone walls.

“Good, princess,” Alexius said. “It’s working.”

“What do I do now?” Lucia asked, her voice growing strained.

“Think of the Kindred. Four crystals containing the purest essence of elemental magic. Amber for fire, moonstone for air, aquamarine for water, and obsidian for earth. Picture them in your mind. See them.”

“I can see them,” Lucia whispered.

“Now you should be able to feel where each belongs—the chosen place of power in Mytica where the element is meant to be awakened.”

“I don’t understand.”

Cleo watched them both tensely, her gaze moving back and forth between sorceress and tutor.